Reuters reports: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Joseph Dunford, said in a written message on Thursday to military leaders that there has been no change yet to the military’s policy on transgender personnel, despite plans for a ban announced by President Donald Trump. “There will be no modifications to the current policy until the President’s …

USA Today reports: A report for the Pentagon last year found that transition-related care would cost between about $2.4 and $8.4 million per year — less than 0.14% of the military’s medical budget. That’s roughly the cost of four of Trump’s trips to Mar-A-Lago, GQ noted, even using a conservative estimate of $2 million per trip. And it’s way less …

Reuters reports: Russian intelligence agents attempted to spy on President Emmanuel Macron’s election campaign earlier this year by creating phony Facebook personas, according to a U.S. congressman and two other people briefed on the effort. About two dozen Facebook accounts were created to conduct surveillance on Macron campaign officials and others close to the centrist former financier as he sought …

At least for today. Bloomberg reports: A surge in Amazon.com Inc. shares Thursday morning in advance of the online retailer’s earnings report has propelled founder Jeff Bezos past Bill Gates as the world’s richest person. Shares of the online retailer rose 1.3 percent to $1,065.92 at 10:10 a.m. in New York, giving Bezos a net worth of $90.9 billion, versus …

The Hill reports: Almost half of Republicans say they are in favor of courts shutting down media outlets that publish inaccurate or biased information, according to a new survey. Forty-five percent of Republicans in the Economist–YouGov poll said courts should be able to shut down media outlets, while 20 percent of Republicans are opposed the idea. Just 18 percent of …

“There are so many qualified men and women who wanted to serve this president, this administration, and their country – who have been completely demoralized and completely, I think, disinclined to do so, based on the paperwork that we have to put forward – divesting assets and the different hoops we have to run through – because this White House …

TV Line reports: To the tune of Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E,” Late Late Show host James Corden saluted transgender troops, who will no longer be allowed to serve in the army according to President Donald Trump. The musical number, which opened Wednesday’s episode, took aim at POTUS for announcing via a series of tweets that people who identify as transgender …

The Alaska Dispatch News reports: President Donald Trump isn’t going to just let Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s no vote on Tuesday’s health care motion go. Early Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter to express displeasure with Murkowski’s vote. By that afternoon, each of Alaska’s two Republican senators had received a phone call from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke letting them know the vote …

The Guardian reports: The new head of communications at the White House brought up Abraham Lincoln’s struggle to end slavery when asked about the difficulty Donald Trump has faced in trying to repeal Barack Obama’s healthcare legislation. In his first UK television interview, Anthony Scaramucci said Trump would push through the abolition of the healthcare plan, despite opposition in Congress. …

White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci called into CNN this morning to essentially accuse Reince Priebus of being the leaker. The Hill reports: White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Thursday said if chief of staff Reince Priebus wants to explain he isn’t a leaker, he can do that. During an interview on CNN’s “New Day,” Scaramucci said he doesn’t …

The Kansas City Star reports: President Donald Trump has appointed Gov. Sam Brownback to an ambassadorship, a little more than a month after the Kansas governor saw his signature tax policy dismantled by the state’s Legislature. Trump announced Brownback’s appointment as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom Wednesday evening. Brownback had long been expected to be named to the post. “Religious …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: The US Justice Department on Wednesday argued in a major federal lawsuit that a 1964 civil rights law doesn’t protect gay workers from discrimination, thereby diverging from a separate, autonomous federal agency that had supported the gay plaintiff’s case. The Trump administration’s filing is unusual in part because the Justice Department isn’t a party in …

AL.com reports: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, under fire and daily criticism from President Trump, should resign and seek to regain his seat again in the Senate, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks said. Brooks released a statement Wednesday promising to withdraw from the Senate race if Sessions would run. Brooks also included a resolution in his statement calling for all 10 …

The New York Post reports: Sean Spicer is taking his first steps to transition from the White House briefing room to the bright lights of a TV news studio — but he’s also being courted by “Dancing with the Stars,” Page Six has learned. The outgoing press secretary spent the day in New York City in talks with major broadcasters …

Talking Points Memo reports: Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), frustrated at the Senate’s pace in their effort to repeal Obamacare, said Wednesday that “somebody needs to go over there into that Senate and snatch a knot in their ass.” The remark came during an interview with MSNBC’s Ali Velshi, after the cable news host asked about a female senator’s “no” vote …

As many of you surely recall, hate radio host and BarbWire publisher Matt Barber only deleted multiple columns by advocates of executing homosexuals after we called them out here on JMG. Here’s his Facebook response to today’s anti-trans action by Trump: With male-on-male sexual assaults up 33% in the military since the Obama Administration homosexualized the armed forces, barring men …

The New York Times reports: The Senate on Wednesday rejected a measure that would have repealed major parts of the Affordable Care Act but would not have provided a replacement, signaling that the “clean repeal” bill that conservatives have embraced cannot get through Congress. The vote underscored the bind that Republican leaders have found themselves in. Repealing the health law …

From Rolling Stone‘s profile of Justin Trudeau: It’s strange to witness: He speaks in a modulated, indoor voice. His dark hair is a color found in nature. At home, there is a glamorous wife and three photogenic children, still not old enough to warm his seat at next week’s G-20 summit or be involved in an espionage scandal. When Trudeau …

Mediaite reports: In a Tuesday Instagram post, former House Oversight Committee chair Jason Chaffetz took it upon himself to publicly shame a homeless man on the streets of New York City for the great crime of having a smartphone. Chaffetz is, FYI, the same GOP lawmaker who suggested poor Americans would be able to afford health care if they’d just …

Buzzfeed News reports: At the Pentagon, the first of the three tweets raised fears that the president was getting ready to announce strikes on North Korea or some other military action. Many said they were left in suspense for nine minutes, the time between the first and second tweet. Only after the second tweet did military officials receive the news …